Background on South Sudan

"Of particular concern is the painful
news coming from suffering South Sudan, where a fratricidal conflict is
compounded by a severe food crisis, which…condemns to death by starvation
millions of people, including many children… May the Lord sustain these our
brothers and all those working to help them." --Statement from Pope Francis, 2017

BACKGROUND

After four
tragic years of civil war and seven failed peace agreements, the conflict in
South Sudan continues. Fighting has taken the lives of tens of thousands,
imposed near starvation conditions on about 5 million people and forced some four
million from their homes. The armed
conflict broke out because of a longstanding ethnic feud within the ruling
South Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) party and the SPLA military over
access to power and resources. The
government faction and the military, led by President Salva Kiir, and the
opposition party (SPLM-IO) and militia, led by former Vice President Riek
Machar, agreed to an end to the fighting in August 2015 and reformulated the
government, but this too collapsed in July 2016. Since then, Riek Machar's forces have been
largely routed and dispersed into the periphery of the country. In addition, the two factions have splintered
into numerous militia groups and new armed groups have arisen, some of whom
conduct attacks outside of any central control and with total impunity.

Payton
Knopf of the United States Institute of Peace explains that the fighting has
devolved from a war between government Dinka and Nuer factions to include more local
or regional issues. Resistance has begun against President Kiir's regime in
Juba by the population of the surrounding Greater Equatorial region in the
south. A long-standing battle over land between the Dinka and the Shilluk in
the Upper Nile has erupted. Nuer clans
are at war in Unity State. The Dinka are
striving to establish primacy in the northwest of the country, and diversionary
"crises of convenience" in Lakes and Jonglei have been exploited by President
Kiir and his allies to defeat opposition to the government.

The
regional 8-country Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), supported
by donor nations including the United States, brokered a High-Level
Revitalization Process in 2017 to restart peace talks. Negotiations continue to search for a formula
to stop the fighting, to set up a transitional government and then prepare
elections to be held in 2018-19.
Already, the United States and the European Union have imposed sanctions
on government and military leaders accused of crimes or blocking an end to the
fighting. In February 2018, the United States imposed a unilateral arms embargo
on South Sudan and urged other involved countries to do the same. After years of failed negotiations, IGAD
members and the Africa Union are also threatening their own sanctions.

The civil
war has crippled the country's society and economy. Seventy percent of school-age children have
no access to education. Almost half the
population lives in hunger. In 2017, the official currency exchange rate was 3
Sudanese Pounds to 1 U.S. Dollar, but on the black market it is now almost 20
to 1. Today the exchange rate is over
130 pounds to the dollar. Oil represents 99% of exports and over 90% of government
revenues. The fall in the international
price of oil and the reduction in oil exports due to the civil war means that
the government is now running a large deficit. Because donors are not willing
to lend the government money, the deficit is covered by printing money. This has created an annual inflation rate of
over 100% that negatively affects those living in cities and deepens
poverty.

The UN
also says that it needs over $1 billion to cover emergency needs for 2018. Since 2011, the United States has committed
over $11 billion in assistance to South Sudan. In 2017, the United States planned to provide $812
million, of which about half was for emergency assistance.

Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) has mobilized millions of dollars of assistance from USAID,
the World Food Program and other donors for humanitarian relief, recovery
activities and peacebuilding. CRS and its partners are providing emergency
food, shelter and household goods, seeds, and tools to the victims of the
fighting. CRS is also providing water
and sanitation facilities in many schools in Jonglei state.

Despite the
crisis and the negative impact it has had on the Catholic Church, the Church in South Sudan has been an outspoken witness for dialogue
and peace. The Catholic Archbishop of
Juba, Paulino Lukudu Loro, is the 'elder statesman' of the faith leaders in the
country; he is often the spokesman for the faith communities. The Church
conducts its public advocacy work in its capacity as a member of the South
Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC). The
Church and the SSCC have been courageous in their condemnation of the violence
caused by the government and opposition leaders. With financing from CRS and USAID the SSCC is
implementing a three-part Action Plan for Peace. The Church is in regular
contact with top level government leaders, IGAD leaders in Uganda, Ethiopia and
Kenya to urge them to stop the senseless violence. At the middle level of society, the Church
convenes religious, ethnic and administrative leaders to resolve local issues
of conflict. At the grassroots of
society, the Church organizes reconciliation sessions between people who have
suffered from the violent conflict. They
also hope to restart an international advocacy initiative with their respective
faith communities in donor nations in Europe and in the United States to
increase international engagement for peace.
A visit to Washington, DC is planned for April 2018.

USCCB POLICY

USCCB and
CRS have actively supported the Church and people of South Sudan. Bishop Cantú, then Chairman of the
International Committee, made a solidarity visit to South Sudan in July 2015
and again in 2017. In July 2017, Bishop
Cantú wrote a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to urge him to work
with the international community and IGAD to pressure the government of South
Sudan to encourage them to participate fully in the High-Level Peace
Revitalization talks. Staff have met
with State Department and National Security Council officials and leaders in
Congress to urge them to support the revitalized peace talks.

The Church
in South Sudan, USCCB and CRS continue to urge the U.S. Government to:

Work
with the International Community and the regional countries to support the revitalization
of the peace agreement;

Urge
IGAD countries to increase their pressure on the South Sudan Government to end
the violence, install an interim government, and prepare for free and fair
elections as soon as possible;

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